Japanese business strategist Kenichi Ohmae yesterday called on Taiwan to be cautious about becoming overly dependent on China following the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
To be “overly dependent on China would be very dangerous,” Ohmae told a forum at the Presidential Office yesterday, urging Taiwan to look beyond the Chinese market’s 440 million middle-class population and diversify toward other middle-class consumers, whose annual incomes range between US$5,000 and US$35,000, throughout emerging countries in Asia, including 220 million in India.
Calling an ECFA an “elaborately designed vitamin,” Ohmae said the pact could help stimulate Taiwan’s economy and that Tokyo was paying close attention to developments surrounding the deal.
PHOTO: CNA
Taiwan must spare no time taking immediate action to enter the world stage, he said.
“I would not be surprised [to see 10 percent growth in GDP this year]. The next few years will probably be the most critical years for Taiwan to move up in the global [economic] stage,” Ohmae said, adding that the window of opportunity for Taiwan to tap into the Chinese market would probably close in less than two years.
“To be honest with you, we didn’t expect Taiwan and China would produce any good results at the negotiation table,” he said. “However, what amazes us is that China has showed a tremendous amount of patience. We think the negotiations have been going very well and there is a big chance for Taiwan to become a significant hub in the Greater China area.”
During the question-and-answer session, Ohmae criticized US President Barack Obama for asking China to appreciate its currency, saying Obama was “wrong” and that China should learn a lesson from Japan’s experience of bowing to US pressure to boost the yen.
Ohmae said he did not think China should listen to US complaints about the yuan because even after Japan agreed to Washington’s demands on the yen, the US still enjoyed a trade surplus and US companies were still reluctant to return to their homeland.
“China should learn a lesson from us,” he said. “The US and President Obama are wrong about asking other countries to increase the value of their currency, while what they should have done is to reform their labor system.”
Taiwanese exports to China helped Taiwan recover more quickly than other states from the impact of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Ohmae said.
“I can’t understand why some people in the country would complain about it,” he said. “Why would some journalists complain?”
The Presidential Office said that during a private meeting with Ohmae before his speech, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) asked him whether Taiwan’s economy was overly reliant on China.
“No, compared with other states in Asia, Taiwan is not overly reliant on China,” the office quoted Ohmae as saying.
Meanwhile, Ma said yesterday China-bound exports would continue to grow after an ECFA is signed, but urged the public not to fret about the negative impact of over-reliance on China.
Ma said some worried that Taiwan would be over-reliant on China, which could have an adverse impact on the economy and politics. Others were not so worried because they thought the whole world was increasingly depending on China and as long as the country controlled key upstream technologies, there was no need to worry about an increase in bilateral trade, he said.
Citing the example of Japan, Ma said bilateral trade between Taiwan and Japan had remained significant and Japan enjoyed a substantial trade surplus. However, its economic dependence on Taiwan was never an issue, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS